Of Beginnings and Endings
by Tygrvampire13
Summary: The Wizarding World is still under siege from the Death Eaters and their lord, Voldemort. Harry and company are out of Hogwarts and fighting a losing battle. Will good finally unite against evil? (rating may raise for later chapters...het romance, poss


Title: Of Beginnings and Endings

Author: Tygrvampire13

Summary: The Wizarding World is still under siege from the Death Eaters and their lord, Voldemort. Harry and company are out of Hogwarts and fighting a losing battle. Will good finally unite against evil?

Rating: PG-13 in my language (will most likely change for later chapters…may get gory or more sexual)

Ships: R/Hr, H/OC, D/OC

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and anything in his grand universe…I only play within it occasionally for my own pleasure. ; )

Reviews always welcome, good and bad.

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Chapter One: Beginning of the End

Harry sighed and looked down at the desk in front of him. The tide had finally turned, but not in their favor. The Death Eaters had decimated their central office in Russia, murdering everyone in sight and taking all documents and plans they could lay their filthy hands on. Their lines were finally being broken. And Hermione and Ron had a fight of epic standards. This day was turning out to be just one piece of bad news doggedly following the heels of another piece.

Hearing his door slowly open, Harry turned to see Draco Malfoy gazing in at him, silver eyes staring intensely at his own. Draco mouth twitched into what could have been a smile, "It's not fair, is it?" Understatement of the century.

Harry crossed his arms and let his head fall on them, slowly shaking his head, as though trying to dispel this horrid day as one long, continuous nightmare. "We've been fighting this since our first year at Hogwarts, and here we are, 3 years out of school, and we are no closer to winning this battle. In fact," Harry sighed, "we are even farther from victory."

He turned his face up and placed his chin on his wrists, gazing at Draco. Draco ran his fingers through his hair and stepped into Harry's cluttered office. Unlike his own, Harry's was very plain, yet cluttered with case files and multiple odds and ends. Draco liked Harry's much better. It felt very homey.

Draco settled into one of Harry's soft, worn chairs. "I honestly don't understand where we went wrong. Security has been tight at all of our bases. If it were any tighter, you wouldn't even be able to get into them. We had no inside sources, and it takes multiple people to open any of the doors. Every precaution taken, and the third most secret base gets infiltrated. Along with that, most of our plans are now in the hands of Death Eaters, who can no doubt break our codes, and we can only sit here and tweedle our thumbs."

"We can't do this alone any longer."

Draco looked up at Harry. "What do you mean?"

The raven-haired Auror leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Word got to us this morning that an Australian base and a Central American base also have been overrun, or more appropriately, annihilated."

Draco turned his gaze to the window, looking at the birds nesting on the ledge, "So it's just as you've suspected. Death Eaters worldwide have finally banded together, and are ready to dispose of us at any necessary cost." He remembered reading about the thousands of dead Death Eaters left at the sites.

"Yes, and here we sit: divided, leaderless, sitting ducks for the Death Eaters to pluck and roast at their pleasure."

"Does Albus know?"

Harry turned his gaze to the same birds, "Yes, we spoke this afternoon. At this moment, he is getting in touch with all the major leaders of the rebellions for our cause in every nation. Hopefully, we will have a secret meeting arranged within the next week."

Silence fell over them. The birds rustled softly, nestling closer to one another. Suddenly, a dark shadow attacked the group of birds. Feathers flew, screams were emitted, and silence again fell. Draco and Harry found themselves looking into the glowing eyes of a Siamese cat, refined, yet hungry and dangerous. It turned and padded away into the darkness with it's victims.

They looked at one another. Draco whispered, "What do you think is going to happen?"

Harry's eyes trailed back to the scene of the crime. He thought of all they had lost: Cedric, Sirius, Neville Longbottom and his entire family, the Ministry. Amid these dark thoughts, thoughts of Hermione and Ron's children floated into his mind, and of Seamus' undying love for his mom, and of Albus's undying courage and loyalty to the cause. So much pain, yet so much happiness and hope.

He let his eyes find Draco's, and replied, "As long as we have something to fight for, we will win."

He saw a smile spread on Draco's face, lighting up his eyes for the first time in months. He saw something that he had seen in all of his friend's face, that which had kept them by his side all these years, and had let them face death with no fear. Hope was a precious commodity, found in so few places, yet burning alive in so many within their cause. Yes, they would win this war.

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Questions? Ideas? Comments? Threats? Do share. 


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